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NEMWI Releases New Report on Lead in
Drinking Water in the Region
The Northeast-Midwest Institute released a report on Thursday of last week documenting the severity of the lead contamination problem in drinking water and analyzing policy changes in the Northeast-Midwest region.
The study finds the lead contamination problem in drinking water has a
broad geographic reach throughout the Northeast and Midwest region, with more than half of the region's Congressional districts - spanning cities, suburbs, and rural areas - having significant issues with lead contamination of water.
The report is available
here and a related press release is available
here.
For more information, please contact
Dr. Sri Vedachalam
, Director of the Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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What the Midterm Elections Mean for the Northeast-Midwest
After Tuesday's midterm elections, a number of significant political shifts occurred throughout the region. When the newly elected officials are sworn into office in January, there will be a host of new faces in the governors' mansions and Congressional delegations throughout the Northeast-Midwest.
Seven new governors will take office in the Northeast-Midwest, with Democrats gaining four seats in the region.
Overall, 104 Members of Congress will not return for the 116th Congress and 40 of the new Members replacing them will be in the Northeast-Midwest.
The Senate seats in the Northeast-Midwest remained largely static, with all incumbents retaking their seats aside from one.
Here are some key highlights from what occurred in the region last Tuesday:
In the Northeast:
The midterms resulted in interesting political shifts in the Northeast, with a few races still too close to call after a week of ballot counting.
Governors:
At the gubernatorial level, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maryland reelected their Republican governors while Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New York reelected their Democratic governors. In Connecticut's open gubernatorial race, Democratic candidate Ned Lamont (49.2%) defeated Republican candidate Bob Stefanowski (46.3%). In Maine's open gubernatorial race, Democratic candidate Janet Mills (50.8%) defeated Republican Shawn Moody (43.2%), replacing outgoing Republican Governor Paul LePage.
Senate:
Incumbents in Northeastern Senate races, including Maine, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, were successfully reelected, with seven seats remaining in Democratic hands and two seats
remaining as Independent (though the two Senators, from Maine and Vermont, caucus with the Democrats).
House:
In Northeastern House races, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware reelected their Democratic Members of Congress. Maine's second Congressional district is still too close to call with Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin (46.2%) currently leading Democratic challenger Jared Golden (45.5%) by a slim margin.
In New York's Congressional races, Democrats picked up two seats, with Democratic challenger Antonio Delgado (50.2%) beating Republican incumbent John Faso (47.3%) in New York's 19th Congressional district. In New York's 11th Congressional district, Democratic challenger Max Rose (52.8%) defeated Republican incumbent Dan Donovan (46.8%). The races in New York's 22nd and 27th Congressional districts are still too close to call. In New York's 22nd district, Democratic challenger Anthony Brindisi (50.3%) currently leads Republican incumbent Claudia Tenney (49.7%) by a razor thin margin. In New York's 27th Congressional district, Republican incumbent Chris Collins (49.5%) currently leads Democratic challenger Nate McMurray (48.4%) by a hair.
In Pennsylvania, the recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision resulting in a newly drawn Congressional map caused major shifts in the state's Congressional delegation. Democrats flipped four seats, taking the new 5th, 6th, 7th, and 17th Congressional districts. The state is now balanced at nine Democratic seats to nine Republican seats. Due to the new map, incumbents Conner Lamb (56.2%) and Kieth Rothfus (43.8%) faced off in the new 17th Congressional District with Lamb winning the seat by a comfortable margin. Congressman Lamb was previously elected to the old 18th Congressional district in a special election in March of this year to replace Tim Murphy, who resigned after a scandal.
In New Jersey's Congressional races, Democrats picked up three seats. In New Jersey's 2nd Congressional district, an open race, Democrat Jeff Van Drew (52.3%) defeated Republican Seth Grossman (45.9%). In the 7th Congressional district, Democratic challenger Tom Malinowski (51.5%) defeated Republican incumbent Leonard Lance (47.0%). In the 11th district, an open seat, Democrat Mikie Sherrill (56.2%) defeated Republican Jay Webber (42.7%). New Jersey's 3rd district is still too close to call, with Democratic challenger Andy Kim (49.9%) currently leading Republican incumbent Tom MacArthur (48.8%).
In the Northeast, Democrats successfully flipped three districts in New York and three districts in New Jersey "blue" to help Democrats win the majority in the House of Representatives. The four remaining House seats in play in the Northeastern region will determine if House Democrats can expand their majority even further.
In the Midwest:
Governors:
Democrats flipped three governors' mansions, taking Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. Republicans fought off tough challenges to maintain control in Iowa and Ohio, however, stemming their losses.
Democratic candidate J.B Pritzker (54.2%) defeated Republican incumbent Bruce Rauner (39.2%) to become the next Governor of Illinois. The election was the most expensive gubernatorial race in the country with both billionaires self-funding their campaigns, spending roughly $250 million collectively.
In Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer (53.3%) defeated Republican Bill Schuette (43.8%) to flip the state for Democrats. Whitmer, the former majority leader of the state Senate, focused her campaign on infrastructure and pragmatic solutions.
Minnesota Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tim Walz (54%) defeated Republican candidate Jeff Johnson (42%) to succeed Governor Mark Dayton. Walz's victory also marks a historical moment for Minnesota as the Lieutenant Governor-elect, Penny Flanagan, is the first American Indian to hold the position.
Iowa's incumbent Republican governor, Kim Reynolds (50.4%), defeated Democrat Fred Hubbell (47.7%), leaving many Iowa Democrats disappointed at what was projected as a chance for a Democratic pick-up. This election marked the tightest governor's race for Iowa in 62 years, and was also the most expensive in Iowa's history: the two candidates spent about $35 million collectively.
The high-profile gubernatorial race in Ohio resulted in Republicans fending off a strong challenge from Democrats in a key battleground state. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine (50.7%) defeated former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray (46.4%).
Senate:
In Midwest, the only change in the Senate came from
Democratic Senator Mike Donnelly of Indiana, losing to Republican Mike Braun. All other Senators who were up for reelection in the region retained their seats.
House
In Illinois, House Democrats gained two seats in the 1st and 4th districts, bringing their total to 13 of 18 seats. Additionally, retiring Congressman Luis Gutierrez was replaced by the candidate he endorsed, Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia.
There was a major shift in Iowa's Congressional delegation with Democrats flipping two of the state's four seats, picking up the 1st and 3rd districts. The state's now-lone Republican Member of Congress, Congressman Steve King, almost lost his seat, as well. His challenger, J.D. Scholten, came within a few percentage points of unseating the Congressman and putting the entire delegation under Democratic control.
Minnesota saw half of its seats flip party control with both Democrats and Republicans flipping two seats. Those four new members will also be joined in Washington by Ilhan Omar, who handily won the 5th district to succeed her fellow Democrat, Congressman Keith Ellison, who was also elected as the new Minnesota Attorney General. Meanwhile, both the Minnesota Senate seats were up for reelection.
The "blue wave" that defeated Scott Walker's bid for reelection as Governor did not extend to Wisconsin's Congressional delegation. Republicans retained a five to eight majority of seats with the only turnover occurring in the 1st district where retiring Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was replaced by his fellow Republican, Bryan Steil.
For more information, please contact
Eric Heath
, Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute
.
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Shake Up in the House Climate Solutions Caucus
The results of the 2018 midterm elections affect not only the composition of the upcoming Congress, but also the make-up of the Congressional caucuses. It appears that House Democrats have an opportunity to advance their legislative agenda, at least in their chamber, on climate change after gaining 30 seats.
While this bodes well for House Democrats, it will also significantly alter the composition of the House Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group of legislators dedicated to finding climate policy solutions. This Tuesday, the caucus lost half of its Republican members, including co-founder, Congressman Carlos Curbelo of Florida. Curbelo's Congressional district, which includes the Florida Keys and parts of Miami, has been adversely impacted in substantial ways by extreme weather events associated with or exacerbated by climate change. Since its inception in 2012, the caucus has grown to 90 members (Democrats and Republicans) and requires an equal number of members from both parties to maintain bipartisanship.
Congressman Curbelo lost re-election to Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who campaigned on her commitment to investing in clean energy and mitigating the effects of climate change on marine life and Florida's reefs. With the House in Democratic hands, more environmental advocacy groups expect climate change to become a higher policy priority in relevant committees of jurisdiction and are encouraged by the prospect of productive climate policy-making. These efforts should also be bolstered by the planned revival of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, a committee previously tasked with addressing climate change but dissolved by the Republican majority in 2011.
At this point, it's uncertain who will pick up the mantle as the Republican leader of the caucus. Possible leaders include Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-08) or Congressman Francis Rooney (R-FL-19). Both were the only co-sponsors of Congressman Curbelo's carbon tax bill introduced this summer.
Given the loss of Republican members of the House Climate Solutions Caucus and the increase in potential House Democrats who could join, the midterm election outcome may advance legislative action on climate policy but undermine the ability to generate bipartisan support. A greater number of Democrats elected to the House came partially at the expense of fewer moderate Republican House members winning reelection. This new political landscape could decrease the number of Republicans joining the caucus, given the new crop of more conservative leaning Republican members, who may be less likely to address climate change
. Moving forward, there is a chance the caucus loses some of its prominence in the climate policy debate to other bodies or committees, like the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
For more information, please contact
Eric Heath
, Senior Policy Counsel for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute
.
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Senate to Act on U.S. Coast Guard Bill
The Senate will vote today on a Coast Guard reauthorization bill that contains language that reforms how ballast water discharges are regulated. According to a news release from the Senate Commerce Committee, the ballast water title would:
- Delegate the lead role in establishing standards for discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel to the EPA;
- Assign the Coast Guard the lead role in monitoring and enforcing such standards for discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel;
- Keep existing rules in place until new standards are final and enforceable;
- Accommodate unique regional situations. Pacific Coast ballast water exchanges will continue and the Great Lakes may set their own basin-wide standards; and
- Allow States to establish no-discharge zones for areas that require additional protection.
In addition, the bill also includes a provision that would establish a Center of Expertise for Great Lakes Oil Spill Preparedness and Response and a provision authorizing the Coast Guard to build an icebreaker for the Great Lakes. If cleared by the Senate, the bill would then be sent to the House. Full text of the bill can be viewed
here.
For more information, please contact Matt McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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This Week in Washington
The following are committee hearings and briefings of interest to the region.
In the Senate:
In the House:
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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